“In 2002… [Harvard student Amit Paley]…came across a restricted archive labeled 'Secret Court Files, 1920.' The mystery he uncovered involved a tragic scandal in which Harvard University secretly put a dozen students on trial for homosexuality and then systematically and persistently tried to ruin their lives.
[1]“The pages that file contained, first reported [by Paley] in a[n]…edition of the
Harvard Crimson's weekend magazine, describe Harvard's desperate attempts 80 years ago to hide from public view a secret gay subculture on campus.”
[2]“The article prompted an apology from University President Lawrence H. Summers to the men and their families; led to a campus-wide discussion about homophobia; and was even cited in
Lawrence v. Texas, the historic Supreme Court case that struck down anti-sodomy laws.”
[3]Prolific biographer William Wright’s newly-published book, ‘
Harvard's Secret Court: The Savage 1920 Purge of Campus Homosexuals' digs deep into the shameful events of the early 20th century at one of the United States' leading universities.
posted by ericb
on Sep 29, 2005 -
29 comments
Hustler's magazine's anticipated expose of closeted congressman David Dreier (R – California) hits newsstands today. Raw Story reports that the article “offers a handful of new details not previously reported, including a charge that high-level California Republicans have been aware of (and sanctioned) Dreier’s gay lifestyle for many years.”
The article recounts how Dreier’s gay life was exposed earlier this summer by blogACTIVE.com, RAW STORY, and then picked up by
L.A. Weekly (previously discussed
here,
here, and
here).
Dreier was targeted because he had repeatedly voted against gay rights measures – all the while keeping his alleged partner on his office payroll.
Hustler gave permission to
blogACTIVE and
RAW STORY to excerpt parts of the article. The full article is only available in the print edition of the magazine.
posted by ericb
on Dec 3, 2004 -
40 comments
